Man Charged With Murder In Fatal Shooting: Manatee County Sheriff

PALMETTO, FL — A Palmetto man faces murder charges after a man he shot last month died from his injuries more than a week later, according to a Manatee County Sheriff’s Office.

Leroy Lee Hope was charged with second-degree murder and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.

Deputies responded to a shooting in the 1500 block of 2nd Avenue West in Palmetto around 7:30 p.m. on Oct. 20.

They found a man lying along the side of the road with a gunshot wound to his head, the sheriff’s office said. He was brought to Blake Hospital in critical condition and put on life support.

Investigators learned he had been in a fight with another man, later identified as Hope, a few blocks away before the shooting. Detectives determined that Hope drove his car by the 60-year-old victim, who was on a bicycle, pulled over, got out of the car and shot him before driving away, MCSO said.

Hope was arrested on Oct. 21 on an unrelated driving under the influence charge while detectives were still identifying him as a suspect in the shooting.

The victim, whose name is withheld under Marsy’s Law, died Tuesday from his severe gunshot wounds.